The Napthine Government has gone into siege mode to withstand the barrage of public criticism and legal attacks on the East West Link. Having risked its political future on this one project, the Government has been forced to resort to legally desperate tactics and shortcuts to try to reach its goal of a binding contract by the end of October.

The Government was forced to use its trump card of the Cabinet FOI exemption in two cases in its desperation to keep the East West Link Business Case and related consultant report from public exposure. The Business case was seen in public for the first time, wheeled into the Court room on a trolley – perhaps the same one that had wheeled it through the Cabinet room to gain exemption.

The Government is desperately scared this document will ever be released -suggesting that its contents are damning. From what has come out so far, it is clear that many of the consultants thought the methodology used had been highly creative to achieve a positive return on the project – rather than the 80 cents in the dollar by traditional methods. Continue Reading…